shielding in the 'verse? by RiverNot

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shielding in the 'verse?

POSTED BY: RIVERNOT
UPDATED: Wednesday, August 24, 2005 23:09
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Wednesday, August 24, 2005 8:04 AM

After reading several of the discussions here I've come to the conclusion that y'all are a very knowledgeable bunch of folks. I'm a smart person (not bragging, cuz there're many smarter) and sometimes the discussions have me going "uh huh, uh huh," but it's unlikely I'd ever be able to come up with it on my own (the whole number of hydrogen particles in a given part of space thread comes to mind).

SO, to make a long whatever shorter, here's my question.

Could there, in the 'verse, be a type of localized shielding that would cut down on the amount of UV hitting a moon's surface and yet be undetectable by the Alliance?

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Wednesday, August 24, 2005 8:38 AM

KAYLEERULESALL

well, the first thing that pops into my head is ozone, but that would be detectable. i guess to properly answer your question, id have to know how big an area were talking about here; the entire moon, or just a small cunk of it, say a city or base?

also, another idea just hit me. if your looking to protect a structure from high UV, you could use the synthetic material that they use in sunglasses--just put a layer of that stuff in the walls, and make the windows from it. that shouldt be detectable, from orbit or even close up. the windows would just look like they had a tint.

planet-wide is another matter. the image of a moon wrapped in tinted Saran Wrap springs to mind...

"There are two infinate things in our world. The universe, and Human stupidity. I'm not too sure about the first one." Albert Einstien

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Wednesday, August 24, 2005 10:29 AM

RIVERNOT

Quote:
Originally posted by KayleeRulesAll:
well, the first thing that pops into my head is ozone, but that would be detectable. i guess to properly answer your question, id have to know how big an area were talking about here; the entire moon, or just a small cunk of it, say a city or base?

As it's (hopefully) a component of a fanfic I'm writing, and I don't want to give too much away... The application of the shielding would be, if possible, for a fairly large chunk of real estate (or a few smaller chunks) and not over a city or base and, if possible, would also mask what's under it.

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Wednesday, August 24, 2005 10:36 AM

KAYLEERULESALL

well, okay. do you mean like cloaking?

"There are two infinate things in our world. The universe, and Human stupidity. I'm not too sure about the first one." Albert Einstien

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Wednesday, August 24, 2005 2:43 PM

BLUEBOMBER

Well, my thought is, since it's science fiction, anything goes -- as long as it sounds plausible. Enjoying a story set 500 years in the future requires a suspension of disbelief anyway (within reason), so given the universe in which the action takes place, "cloaked" planet wouldn't be hard to buy, though it may be considered more Star Trek-ish than Firefly. (Personally, I'd have no problem with it.)

"Mwah ha ha ha...mine is an evil laugh. Now die."

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Wednesday, August 24, 2005 4:21 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Anything that can cut down on the amount of Ultraviolet light that strikes the surface of a planetoid will be detectable... if you're looking for it.

But our very own atmosphere does that quite nicely in most places. I'm more interested in why the UV needs to be blocked, and more specifically why no one can know it's being blocked. I mean, almost anything will block UV. A wall, without any special covering, will block UV. A Post-It note will block UV. Coppertone will block UV.

UV isn't that tough to block, and it's not unnusual to want to block it.

--Anthony

"Liberty must not be purchased at the cost of Humanity." --Captain Robert Henner

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Wednesday, August 24, 2005 5:33 PM

GUNRUNNER

The last episode of ‘The Signal’ tacked taraforming in Firefly. One thing suggested is that that moons are shrunk down (collapsed in on them selves with lots of demolition) to increase gravity allowing them to have a thicker atmosphere. So with a thicker Atmosphere approaching Earth Levels you need to worry less about UV.

Of course the people on the Rim aren’t the most educated folks so things like UV protection aren’t well known and the Alliance/Blue Sun wouldn’t educate them on things like that since making people buy things like treatments for excessive UV exposure means lots of profit at the expense of people they don’t care about.

EV Nova Firefly mod Message Board:
http://s4.invisionfree.com/GunRunner/index.php?act=idx

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Wednesday, August 24, 2005 11:09 PM

CITIZEN

Quote:
Originally posted by RiverNot:
As it's (hopefully) a component of a fanfic I'm writing, and I don't want to give too much away... The application of the shielding would be, if possible, for a fairly large chunk of real estate (or a few smaller chunks) and not over a city or base and, if possible, would also mask what's under it.

In order to cloak something you would need be able to bend light around it (which is entirly possible). One 'low-tech' way would be to build a dome with some sort of fibreoptic mesh that channelled the light from one side of the dome to the other.
If you linked that with an IR reflective coating on the inside of the dome you would have a heat signicture, although it would get a little warm inside...

Another option would be to project a massive gravitational field around the object, but that would be a little far fetched I think

...

Q: What do you have when you are holding two little green balls in your hand.
A: Kermit's undivided attention.

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